Capricious Winds
by pseudonym
Summary: A confused girl’s thoughts are comforted by a gentle breeze. Who knew that the wind was such a good listener? •HimenoHayate• One-shot
1. Default Chapter

**AUTHOR NAME:  
**pseudonym

**RATING:  
**G

**SUMMARY:  
**A confused girl's thoughts are comforted by a gentle breeze. Who knew that the wind was such a good listener?

**DISCLAIMER:  
**_This story is based upon characters and situations created and owned by Junichi Sato and Kaori Naruse. __No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. _

**AUTHOR NOTES:  
**This is my second one-shot, though I have not posted the first one yet. Heh, I am very bad in that sense. The other story, which was supposed to be short, is now over ten pages and is not nearly finished. This one, is nearly finished, and will probably be four pages or less by the time it is. So, this is not a mammoth of a story.

As well, this story is not a song fic, which is what I am used to writing. Basically, it was around four in the morning… this morning, and I had just finished going through the Pretear section of , and was severely disappointed in the lack of stories! Eight pages are not nearly enough to satisfy my fanfic needs, so I thought that I would contribute to the section.

The title of this little ficlet was from listening to Blind Game Again, from the Gravitation series, by Kinya Kotani. I watched it from fan subs, and I think the translation was incorrect, but a line was translated (**_zawameku_****_ kaze ni) _**to capricious winds. So, when I was thinking of a name, that line came to my mind. I mean, what better way to describe the wind? It is very unpredictable, as is Hayate.

Anyways, this is just a little blurb between Himeno and Hayate. There's not enough H/H stuff in the Pretear section, and what is there is too short… much too short. This is my solution. I hope you enjoy.


	2. 01 Capricious Winds

**Capricious Winds  
**(1/1)

The silvery moonlight reflected eerily off of the glassy surface of the fountain water. The stone bench's surface was rough and cool to the touch. The greenery and shrubs that were so articulately placed perfectly enveloped the majestic garden within a strong and solid embrace. At night, the Awayuki Estate garden became even more enchanting than if it were in the mid-day. That is why she came here every night.

To some, the darkened corners and lively shadows would be enough to avoid the garden at night. However, for her, twilight was the time she set aside to embrace the darkness, and to face her fears. For, in order to be able to conquer the darkness, one must understand it and not be afraid. This was her purpose… sitting with her back against the rough marble of the fountain, her pinkish tinged hair swaying softly in the gentle night breeze, with her favourite blanket pulled snugly around her shoulders.

Her duties as the Pretear were long since dismissed, for there was no more threat from the Princess of Disaster. It was only out of habit that she came here now, having long conquered her unease of the darkness and solitude. Now, the garden became her secret place to come and muse over her daily life, school, her friends, Mawata, and whatever else was rambling around her mind. However, of late, her thoughts were confused over a single matter.

No matter what the situation, or what the problem, she had always been able to draw a sensible conclusion if she sat at her fountain long enough. Even if it took her more than one sitting… for it was only possible to come here at night, when there was a slim to nil chance that anyone could walk by and disturb her, she could usually manage a temporary solution at the very least. Nevertheless, there was this one… issue, which she just could simply not resolve.

Her troubled thoughts revolved around him… the knight of the wind who had haphazardly landed in her life a few years ago. He was an older man, a man indeed, for he was too handsome to be a teenager, with glittering dark blue eyes and equally alluringly shaded hair to match. He was a man of few words, with a seemingly stoic demeanor most of the time. It was his attitude that was stumping her at the moment.

"Hayate…" She huskily breathed in slightly more than a whisper, unable to stop herself from letting his name roll off of her tongue. Why, even just speaking his name made her stomach flutter with butterflies and her heartbeat race. She was silly in that way, for she knew that it was so unlikely that he reciprocated the same feelings towards her.

Ever since the final battle, more than three years ago now, the connection between her and her knights had begun to fade. She saw them less often and conversed with them not as much as she would have liked to. The first year they spent mostly in their world, cleaning up the remnants of the Princess and tending to their land, wanting Leafenia to be as prosperous and vital as it was nearly two decades previous.

After that, she saw them occasionally; usually it was Sasame at the Awayuki radio station or Goh at the café. Mannen, Hajime, and Shin had long ago stopped frequenting the Awayuki Estate grounds, instead choosing to stir up mischief amongst the lands of their home. Kei, Kei had delved into the world of modeling. It was a long time in coming, and he appeared to be truly happy in his new profession.

As for Hayate, well, she did in fact see him more than she did the other knights, for he continued on working for her father after taking some time to tend to his homeland. However, once he returned, he was even more distant that he was when they had first met. Sometimes she would catch his watchful gaze from across the room, or when passing along the upper floor. He would immediately turn away and hurry off in the opposite direction that she was in.

A few times she thought he was going to say something to her, but he never was able to say anything more than 'I…' Any attempt that she made to start a conversation with him would quickly fizzle at his apparent lack of interest, or, tongue-tiedness. Before, he would at least call her a 'tulip-head' or make a reference to her intelligence, or lack thereof, but he rarely said anything now. And it hurt… to be snubbed.

"Why are you doing this?" She breathed out into the night air, moving to brush away the fresh tears that had just prickled at her eyes. "Why are you ignoring me?"

"Why… why…?" She repeated, letting the tears freely fall, refusing to hold them back any longer. She could not do this to herself anymore, she refused to. Too many times had she cried in her life over such matters that could not be altered. Her father was still married to Natsue, and despite the bond that she thought was created when Mawata was imprisoned, her step-sisters and step-mother still treated her as though she was lower than the dirt beneath their feet. She was a disgrace to their Awayuki name. Crying over their rejection did nothing to resolve the issue.

By now, her breathing had become laboured, and the silent sobs had been replaced with hiccups and gasps for air. Her face was hot and cold at the same time. Hot because she was so worked up, yet cold as the air stung at her glistening cheeks. She had not cried like this in such a long while.

"Hayate…" she repeated once more after taking a few moments to calm herself down a little. She had managed to stop hiccupping, but her body still trembled. Closing her eyes, she bent her head forward until her forehead come to rest upon her knees. "Hayate, I… ha-" she tried to continue, but found herself incapable of saying that she hated.

The first, last, and only time she had ever told someone that she hated them, had been Hayate, several years prior, and even then, the guilt at saying such horrible words had eaten away at her. After she had apologized, she vowed to never say such comments again. Why was it that it was he who brought such heated emotion to the surface of her skin and made her think such rash and spiteful thoughts?

With a tired sigh, for crying took a lot out of her, and she was already fatigued before doing so, she drew herself to her feet. She looked towards the silver glow of the moon and then turned to gaze at the velvet drapery of the sky, twinkling with thousands and thousands of pretty stars. She stood there, staring upwards into the heavens, until a gentle breeze began to blow, tousling her hair and soaking up the last of her tears.

Goosebumps prickled up her slender arms, and she let out a shiver and drew the blanket tighter. It was well past time for her to be returning to her bed. It was time for her to put aside her thoughts until tomorrow's night. Perhaps by then, she would be able to solve her dilemma. Maybe she was so stumped because she had forgotten to just let go and let her emotions free.

Whatever it was that was holding her back, it was gone now. Her heart, although still a little heavy, was much lighter than it was when she first came to think. Instead of feeling helpless and frustrated, her vigor had been renewed. She would overcome this obstacle! She would triumph over solving this problem. Keeping it bottled up inside had definitely not been the correct thing to do, so she had decided on a new approach: the direct one. How had she not thought of it before? She should have known after having watched the anguish and pain that resulted when Sasame had kept silent about his feelings for Takako?

Right then, it was resolved… almost. The next time she came across Hayate, they were going to have a little chit chat and she was going to admit her feelings towards the Leafe Knight. Yes, she was going to say everything, even if he rejected her. That would hurt a lot, though it probably would not do to dwell on the negative aspect of the situation. Setting up herself for rejection would only serve to deepen the wound, should Hayate not feel the same way. A small smile perched itself on her lips and she turned to make her way back up to the mansion… only to get a face full of thick, soft material.

She froze, shutting her eyes, and trying not to breathe in too deeply. She knew it was Hayate. He had his own unique scent. This was not happening. When did he get here? How did she not feel his presence? Why was her head beginning to feel funny?

Before she could ask anymore questions, her eyes flew open to meet his inquisitive gaze. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared up at the knight of wind. He was absolutely breathtaking. The moonlight gave Hayate an almost ethereal glow, and she could have sworn she saw a flicker of concern grace his features before the world began to spin and her knees buckled and everything went black.

Someone was holding her hand. She could feel the heat radiating off of the other person, and she was cold. Instinctively she snuggled up closer to the source of warmth. As she breathed in a very familiar scent, she quickly dismissed the name that came to her mind. There was no way that he was in her room and in her bed. She had to be dreaming.

To reassure herself, she reluctantly stretched out a hand and felt the lump that she was curled up beside. How strange, she thought, as her hand felt upwards until she palpated what felt like a nose. It was then that her movement stilled and she sucked in a breath. As quick as her fog-ridden brain could add up all of the numbers, she realized that perhaps she was not in fact dreaming. That would mean that…

"Get out of my bed, you PERVERT!" She yelled out suddenly, curling the hand that was resting on his nose into a fist and striking out as hard as she could muster for being half awake. Apparently she was still able to pack some punch in such a state, for Hayate, who had been sitting on the edge of her bed, flew to the ground.

There was no sound for a moment, and she prayed that she had not yelled loud enough to wake up her father or Mawata. She did not have to worry about Natsue or Mayune, for they slept like the dead. It would take a huge disaster, such as a typhoon, to wake them from their beauty sleep.

"Ernh…" A low grunt emerged from the floor, and she shifted carefully to peer over the bed at her fallen knight. He had landed sprawled out on his back and had a hand held over his nose. She reddened at the curious look he was giving her now, very thankful that the room was dark, for it hid the blush on her cheeks.

"Himeno?" Hayate inquired, grasping the sheet to help pull himself into a sitting position.

"What are you doing?" she responded, moving to her knees and then moving backwards, away from her assault victim, slowly. "Why are you in my room?" Her eyes narrowed, "…in my _bed_?"

"I brought you in from the garden. You fainted." He said this after a pregnant pause. It looked as though he were contemplating answering her question.

They stared at each other for a very long while, her mouth gaping like a fish, and him with his regular, unreadable expression. Her mind was racing. So, she was in the garden… and she… fainted? It wasn't a dream then.

"Why…" she wetted her lips, "… were you in my bed?" she asked once more, twisting the sheet in her hand as she awaited a response.

Hayate took his time moving to his feet, taking a moment to smooth out his clothing and brush his hair back over his shoulder. Then he took to staring at her once more.

"I was checking to see that you were still breathing." He spoke finally, turning his head away to stare at the wall.

"That I was still breathing? Did I stop? Why would I stop breathing? Did you let me fall to the ground?"

"Well… no."

No? She released her clench on the sheets so that she could get off of the bed. She approached the wind knight apprehensively. He still refused to look at her, though the closer she moved, she was able to detect the pink stain on his cheeks from the moonlight from the window.

"No, I didn't stop breathing, or no, you didn't let me fall?"

"…both" He still had not turned to face her, but he was watching her approach out of the corner of his eye.

She wasn't sure whether to be thrilled that he caught her, or suspicious as to why he was avoiding the question.

"I'm going to ask you again," she stated firmly, stopping so that she was facing Hayate straight on. "Why were you in my bed?"

"Because…" he trailed off, finally looking down to meet her gaze. She was surprised to see how vulnerable he looked at that moment. Anxiety, worry, regret, guilt, and relief flashed across his face, and the more she stared at him, the more flushed his cheeks became.

"Because you're perverted?"

"No!" Hayate's voice was sharp and she winced. "Never mind, I've got to be going." He turned away, but before he could move, she had grabbed his hand.

"Wait, please. I was only kidding." She drew in a deep breath. It was now or never. Well, so much for putting it off until tomorrow as she probably would not have another chance like this to let him know how she felt.

"It's just… well, you usually stand by the window when you come in… and… you haven't been around much lately so I was doubly surprised that you were here and that you were beside me." She stopped a moment to look up at Hayate. He had his full attention on her, and his thumb was softly rubbing against her palm.

"I…" she stopped. This was much harder than she thought it was going to be. With him looking at her like that, it made her nervous. Him rubbing her hand made her nervous as well. It was slightly out of character for the wind knight to prolong skin to skin contact, preting excluded.

"You…" she tried again, focusing on what she wanted to say instead of on the butterflies that were flapping away in her stomach. "… Are you mad at me?"

No, no, no! That was all wrong! "No, wait… I mean, why are you ignoring me? Why are all of you ignoring me? Mannen and Shin and Hajime never stop by anymore, nor do Sasame and Goh. It used to be that Tanaka tried to chase them out of the house or off the property. And you…" she took this moment to use her free hand to give a hard poke at his shoulder. "…you are working here every day and won't say anything to me!"

Tears sprung to her eyes once more and she shook her head at Hayate who looked as though he were about to speak. "Don't say anything unless you are going to tell me the truth this time."

"I'm… sorry," After rubbing his shoulder he captured her free hand in his and rubbed that soothingly as well. "We thought that after the Princess of Disaster, you wouldn't want us around anymore. There was no need for you to be the Pretear and…"

She wouldn't want them around? How insane he was, she thought angrily. "After all that we went through, you thought that I would just forget about you guys… my friends?" Tears began to escape once more as she struggled to keep from giving the wind knight another smack. "You are so… stupid."

"We didn't mean to hurt you, Himeno," he said remorsefully, pulling her hands to his face and kissing each of them. "You are our Princess…" he lowered his voice, "…my Princess."

What?! She sniffled a bit, her eyes wide at what he had just said and the fact that he had just kissed her… sort of.

"I have been worried about you, but I just couldn't figure out how to say it."

"You've been… watching me?"

He nodded, rubbing her hands once more. "And listening to you. Even if you thought that I was ignoring you, I wasn't."

Her heart swelled at this piece of divulged information. "Why didn't you tell me then? Do you know how lonely I've been? I thought that you didn't care to be around me anymore!" And just when she thought that perhaps she had cried enough for the night, another swell of tears sprung forth. She pulled her hands from Hayate's' and threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his torso and pushing her face into his neck.

When she realized that he was not returning the hug, she pulled back a little, stung. "Please don't reject me like you did to Takako. I know you have to feel something towards me… even if you don't show it!"

"I…"

"Can you at least say that you care for me as a friend?" Her attempt to keep bitterness from her words was failed. She had been rejected… he had paused. He hadn't held her. There were these actions, but then again, he had also kissed her hands and called her 'his princess'. She was confused again. Why was he making things so complicated?

"Do you have any feelings towards me at all? Even dislike?" she pressed onwards, unable to stop herself from releasing those words. "You had me fooled. I thought that underneath your cold exterior, you were just hiding… shy and afraid. You're so-"

"Shut-up…" And that was all he said before leaning in to press his lips against hers in a shy, hesitant kiss.

The words on her tongue died the moment he came into contact with her mouth. Her worries were swept away when she shut her eyes as his arms embraced her, pulling her body closer to his. This kiss… it was… familiar. It felt like she was coming home.

The longer the kiss went on, the more confident Hayate became. One hand moved upwards and buried itself within her hair and the other moved down her back to curl around her tiny waist. She stood on her tip toes so that she could too, run her hand through his hair, pulling the Leafe clip free and tossing it on her bed.

When Hayate finally pulled back, she found herself dizzy. From lack of oxygen or from her racing heartbeat, she didn't know… nor did she care. She moved to touch her lips, in awe of what had just happened. Did this mean… did he really…?

"Does this-" the wind knight pressed a finger to her lips and shook his head. "You talk too much."

Her mouth split into a wide grin and she pressed herself against him once more, much like the position she had been in several minutes before. Only this time, his arms were wrapped around her body and his chin rested upon her head.

"Hayate… I need to tell you this, because I swore to myself that I wouldn't keep it in any longer. I… I like you a lot." She swallowed hard, "… maybe even love you. You don't have to say anything, that's fine… I know how you feel now, though I wish you had told me a lot sooner."

"I do like you tulip-head; I've just never been good at interacting with other people. That's Sasame's area." he paused. "And I thought I told you to shut up?"

She laughed, catching the hidden meaning behind those words. While everything was not perfect at the moment, as she still had a lot of learn about the older man, she could say that their relationship was finally heading into the right direction. It would take a lot of work, and they would probably fight… it was in their nature, but she at least knew that she was liked, if not loved in return.

The night had lightened into dawn and the beginnings of the sunrise were burning at the horizon. She had better make sure that he was out of her room by the time it was sunrise. She didn't need a maid or her father coming in here to find her with Hayate. As much as her father respected the man, she highly doubted he would approve of nighttime visits.

However, she had at least another twenty minutes until sunrise, so she decided to savour the moment. With a cheeky grin, she looked up at her knight to pull his face down to hers.

"Well, you know the best way to shut me up now, don't you?"

**_fin_**

Well, there you are. Six pages long… thirty seven hundred words… you are spoiled. So much for setting restrictions for myself. I wanted this to be under five pages, under twenty five hundred words, but the fic just took off and I had to follow. My apologies for the fluff at the end… I tried to do a sadder ending, but it just didn't sound right.

I also apologize for any OOC-ness. I've only read and watched the series twice, and while I know the story, writing the characters is a different story. I feel like Hayate spoke too much, as he doesn't say much at all, but I promise to work on that for the next time around. Until then! Ja!


End file.
